Loop antenna ?

[bearcatrp]

Have my icon R30 for a little over a week now. Still learning. To cold outside to erect an antenna so looking at options for indoor antennas for HF. Have read about 10 pages on this thread. Loop antenna comes up a lot. I live out in the country in a stick built house. Cannot use attic. Would a loop work better than my telescopic antenna I am currently using? Have my eye on a Omni X for my other bands for spring and a HF antenna too to go up on a pole outside. But for now, need an inexpensive option for indoor receiving. Appreciate any suggestions. Thanks.

 

[ka3jjz]

I'd say possibly. The fact that you are in a house without aluminum siding and such is a big help. Loops are great for cutting noise, and on MW especially, you can null one station out to bring in another, something you can't do with a whip alone. You probably already know this but we have a decent page of suppliers and manufacturers in our wiki...Mike

 

[bearcatrp]

Thanks for replying. Don’t have aluminum siding. Are loops directional? Meaning would I need to point open loop N-S, E-W, or it doesn’t matter? Am used to whip type antennas from years ago. When I had a yeasu 840 many years ago, attached it to a Antron 99 just to see if it would pick up anything. Listened to a refueling tanker down in the gulf for a bit. Seemed to do ok on HF. Never did get my license so sold it. Since I’m slowing down in my age, figured I would get back into scanners/receivers. If I get real comfortable in this hobby, icom 8600 would be my next purchase. The R30 will get me started listening for now.

 

[ka3jjz]

It depends somewhat on the design, but in general, on freqs below 3 or 4 Mhz, yes, there is a certain amount of directivity. This is especially useful on MW and LW where you can use this to your advantage to null out stations to hear others. Noise issues can also be relieved because of this. As you get higher in frequency - say 9 or 10 Mhz - at least in some designs, the nulls tend to flatten out due to the way the antenna is interacting with skywave based signals. However the noise reduction remains. This is why when you put a loop outside - and it need not be very high off the ground - folks use a TV style rotator to move the loop around.

Loops have been around since the birth of broadcasting (one could make the argument that they are among the oldest of the antenna designs), and have been written about in numerous publications, but Joe Carr's book on the subject is one that keeps popping up at some point in the discussions. It's worthwhile if you're looking to learn about loops - here's the link from Universal...

Joe Carr's Loop Antenna Handbook By Joseph Carr K4IPV

 

[prcguy]

I have some experience with a small commercial passive loop with a switched matching transformer for about 300KHz through 30MHz, a home made 3ft dia passive shielded loop and recently a pair of W6LVP active loops. One W6LVP is a complete loop system and the other is a kit with preamp and power inserter where you make or supply your own wire loop.

The passive loops are interesting with all the advantages of working indoors and rejecting noise sources but they are way down in signal level. The W6LVP loops are like a dream come true in comparison with great reception under difficult conditions and provide signal levels on par with a good outdoor long wire antenna, but usually with a better signal to noise ratio. They are directional but more in nulling out something you don't want rather than being directional where you have to be careful pointing at the wanted signal. I have one roof mounted on a rotor and basically leave it pointed east and west which covers about 90% of my needs. I rarely have to move it for something north or south and if I do its only got to move maybe 10 degrees to get the null off the signal I want.

An active loop can get expensive but the W6LVP loops are about half as much as their competitors at around $250 for the basic package. Its something that you can use now indoors and when the time is right you can plant it outdoors with a cheap rotor and it should provide years of enjoyment.

 

[bearcatrp]

Thanks. Will take a look.

 

[ka3jjz]

We have the relevant links in our loops wiki...

https://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Loops